MST3k: Limbo Theory
by WayWardWonderer
Summary: An alternate version of the entire beloved TV series known Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the characters involved. Joel Robinson and Mike Nelson endure a very different perspective of this amazing show and the MST3k crew members, the ship and the theatre. This is just a theory that came to mind, I'm not trying to offend or dilute the franchise in any way. Opinions always welcome!


The Facts:

The hit television series 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' made its television debut in 1988 on KTMA and quickly moved to Comedy Central, then known as 'The Comedy Channel' and found a larger audience with a cult-like fanbase.

The show revolved around Joel Robinson as the host, who was also the show's creator, and his four robot companions. Joel had been launched into space aboard the 'Satellite of Love' by mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester, and his lackey Dr. Laurence 'Larry' Erhardt.

Dr. Forrester had a plan to take over the world by submitting the Earth's entire populous to the worst film that had ever been created. The film would drive all witnesses insane or depress them to such a severe extent that Dr. Forrester would be able to conquer the world with little to no resistance.

Using Joel as his test subject Dr. Forrester sent incredibly awful movies for Joel to watch on a weekly basis. While screening the films Dr. Forrester and Larry would monitor Joel's mind for any signs of instability.

Before each weekly movie experiment Joel and Dr. Forrester would engage in an 'invention exchange' as a secondary means of monitor Joel's mental health. Dr. Forrester's inventions were often more sinister and used to create more harm than good, while Joel's inventions were designed to aid other people or at the very least make them laugh.

Halfway through the show's run Joel had left the series, leaving behind the robots and Mike Nelson as his replacement. Mike would remain as the show's host until its final season.

...Or, that's how the show's premise seemingly ended.

The Theory:

Joel Robinson, a man from a small town and a small family had been shy, but extremely creative as a young child. Despite having a healthy childhood with both of his parents and sister in his life, as he grew older he began to distance himself from his small town home and became increasingly isolated from larger social groups.

Joel was very bright as a child and extraordinarily intelligent. He had always had an interest and a gift in tinkering with scrap pieces and being able to reshape the material into new gadgets or toys. His imagination and intelligence would unintentionally create friction and social barriers between Joel and those who tried to get close to him. Spending most of his time alone building, designing and drawing, Joel had weak ties to his home community and family.

The various TV shows and radio stations created a peaceful white noise while he worked and helped him gain a sense social understanding without having to try to forge uncomfortable friendships. His only constant companion was his pet turtle, Gypsy, and he would leave his TV set on all day long to keep himself from feeling too alone. By becoming enraptured in the poorly written, directed or acted films Joel honed his sarcastic sense of humor. Despite being alone while watching the films we felt compelled to speak his mind and crack jokes just to get a laugh.

Despite his natural independence Joel slowly became lonely, seeking companionship and harboring a secret desire for a family of his own.

Moving away from his small town Joel was hired as a janitor and hopeful future intern at 'Gizmonic Institute'. Initially Joel had been overlooked as a potential candidate as an inventor or industrialist but soon became familiar with the ever eccentric scientists working throughout the institute.

Joel began spending his days in the absolute basement of Gizmonic Institute known as 'Deep 13'. His main job requirements revolved around cleaning and organizing the ever changing substructure of Deep 13, as a result Joel found piles of spare parts, scrap and discarded material that fueled his imagination. During his breaks Joel would draw crude, yet detailed images of toys, potential machines and buildings in a large sketchpad that was kept in his locker. These toys included raw designs for several possible robot toys to sell or machines to use at Gizmonic Institute.

One day while Joel was onboard the newly constructed satellite cleaning the its interior, Dr. Laurence 'Larry' Echardt had mistakenly begun the launch sequence for the satellite with Joel still onboard. But there was a fatal flaw with the satellites overall design and the satellite exploded before it left the Launchpad.

Joel survived the explosion but just barely. Joel arrived at the hospital in a deep coma, under the care of a Dr. Clayton Forrester. His injuries were devastating; a skull fracture which caused his brain to swell, with damage to several of his other internal organs. The severity of his injuries, combined with his dwindling immune system caused Joel's kidneys to fail. While hooked up to life support for the coma; oxygen, intravenous fluids, antibiotics and dialysis for his kidneys, the pain would play tricks with his mind during his unconscious delirium.

In the coma Joel began to dream about an alternate reality where the satellite, what he referred to as the 'Satellite of Love' from one of his favorite Lou Reed songs, also known as the 'SOL' (soul?), had made successfully it into orbit and that he had been unharmed during the launch. Using his skills in tinkering Joel took bits and parts from the Satellite to build four robotic companions to keep him company during his isolation. His companions quelling his desire for friendship and acting as a substitute for the long sought for family that could understand his unique personality.

The first robot Joel built was called 'Gypsy'. Gypsy was the name of his pet turtle and she controlled the higher functions of the Satellite so Joel wouldn't have to. She would control the oxygen levels and the heat shields on Joel's behalf. As a result her personality evolved to that of a 'big sister' for the entire ship.

From his imagination and sketches, Joel constructed the next robot. The second robot he built was called 'Crow'. Crow's appearance was more humanoid than the other robots. His personality reflected Joel's sarcastic and witty sense of humor that he often kept hidden away from the world. Crow's voice also bore a resemblance to the voice of Dr. Forrester.

Dr. Clayton Forrester, the name of a character from the famous film 'The War of the Worlds', intrigued Joel. Unable to see his doctor's face Joel projected a cliché image of a mad scientist to fill the void. He unconsciously attached his voice to Crow's body as Crow had no true voice of his own.

The third robot, also from a sketch, was originally called 'Beeper'. Beeper's appearance seemed to be a composition of the many different toys Joel had either played with as a child or built as a teenager. Slowly Beeper's personality reflected Joel's more cultured nature and interests. At first his voice was nonexistent, then briefly reflected Larry's voice as it was one of the last that voices Joel had heard before the accident. But that changed after the first year of the coma. A second physician began tending to Joel; Dr. Thomas Server, and through the constant sound of Dr. Server's voice Joel projected this onto Beeper and changed his name to 'Tom Servo'.

The final robot Joel built was 'Cambot'. Cambot was a silent link between Joel 'in orbit' and his perceived notion of 'Dr. Forrester' back in 'Deep 13'.

Aside from the robots companionship Joel would randomly be addressed by a separate, unseen entity that he referred to as 'Magic Voice'. Her voice was calm, gentle and always seemed to be aware of everything that was happening in Joel's world. He never questioned her existence and merely accepted her as a natural part of his reality, although her voice inexplicably changed from time to time.

Back in the hospital several nurses of various ages and personalities were constantly tending to Joel. From time to time the nurses would randomly speak to Joel, trying to give him a bridge between reality and fantasy.

After the accident Joel was replaced by a temp worker who had turned full time by the name of Mike Nelson. Other employees would talk about Joel's accident as a cautionary tale for being meticulous with work details. Mike became fascinated by the 'legend' of Joel Robinson. While assisting in the annual clean-up and reorganization of Deep 13's filing system Mike found the sketchpad in Joel's locker with hastily drawn images of robots as interactive toys and other bizarre little novelty items. The robots' appearances still fresh in the active but unconscious mind of Joel Robinson.

Larry would visit Joel, at least he would until an investigation proved that Larry was responsible for the explosion. Larry was promptly arrested and locked up but Dr. Forrester and Mike didn't tell Joel what had happened to Larry. He didn't want Joel to know that Larry was the person responsible for Joel's accident. In Joel's world Larry was simply a missing person.

Dr. Forrester would talk to Joel about the latest projects back at Gizmonic Institute in attempt to reach Joel's mind. And after two years Mike began stopping by the hospital as a sign of respect for the lone man, but he tended to visit more out of his own curiosity.

During these visits Dr. Forrester would turn on the TV and find the 'movie of the week' so Joel would always have a voice speaking to him even after he or Mike left.

Joel had seen many of the movies as a small child but was too young to understand what was going on. As the movies played in the hospital the memories from Joel's childhood would return, as would trivial information about the films in general. As an adult Joel would mock the tacky the film plots and acting with Crow and Tom reflecting his different senses of humor in the process.

Mike often wondered what Joel was seeing, dreaming, feeling and thinking during his coma. On occasion Mike would imitate a character from the playing movie just to see if he could somehow make Joel laugh or wake up.

For five and a half years Dr. Server and Dr. Forrester, with his intern Frank, tended to Joel's condition. Their voices implanted in Joel's mind and memory, their quirky personalities being reflected in the personalities of the robots in the process.

After years of being on life support and dialysis for his failing kidneys, Joel finally physically recovered to the point where he qualified for the lifesaving organ transplant. Scans of his brain showed signs of improvement and the doctors were ready to try and wake Joel from the coma after the transplant was successful. The kidney donor was Mike Nelson.

Shortly after the transplant Joel began to rouse from the coma, but tragically there was a complication during the procedure. Mike had a poor reaction to the anesthetic used during the surgery and he too ended up in a coma afterward, suffering severe brain damage in the process.

Joel awakened from his coma after five and half years. His mind was strong but his body was weak and he required extensive physical therapy on his road to recovery. He never met or spoke to Mike Nelson before he was transferred to a second care facility.

Mike's mind, after being subjected the constant atmosphere created by Joel's accident, had drifted to the same plane of existence as Joel's mind had during his own coma.

However unlike Joel, Mike's social isolation stemmed from a fractured home. His parents were strict and his older brother was an angry bully that constantly berated Mike. Mike was close with his grandmother but her senility made it difficult for Mike to maintain a healthy relationship. He was also alone in the world, his only visitor was an ex-girlfriend who stayed for only a moment.

Out a sense of responsibility and lingering guilt, Dr. Forrester and Frank would visit Mike just as they had done for Joel.

Tragedy struck again when just over a year after Mike's coma, Frank had suffered a fatal heart attack.

Dr. Forrester's health in turn began a rapid decline from all the emotional and mental anguish he had endured since the day Mike entered his coma.

One year after Frank had passed away, Dr. Forrester was forced into retirement from the hospital. The official reason being a cut in hospital funding prevented Dr. Forrester from receiving his full salary. In reality Dr. Forrester's physical and mental health had declined to the point where he was seen as a liability. Shortly thereafter he died in his sleep from a heart attack of his own.

Unfortunately Mike contracted a serious infection and gone into cardiac arrest. Despite the odds against him the doctor's were able to revive him but the damage to his body had been done. His condition was deemed irreversible.

In the coma, during Mike's cardiac arrest Mike and the bots had been sent adrift through the universe and were willing to accept death. After Mike was revived he and the robots returned to their ethereal plane of existence and would remain there as long as the coma continued. But time itself had become an illusion in his deteriorating mind.

A neural specialist newly assigned to observe Mike's case had become a frequent voice in Mike's ear. As a result Mike replaced Dr. Forrester's voice that of his new doctor; Dr. Brian Guy.

Back in the real world Mike's emotionally unstable mother, Pearl, had finally taken the responsibility of Mike's medical proxy. Her emotional detachment from her youngest son prevented Mike from remembering who she really was or how they were related. As a result Mike often viewed her as a villain.

After a total of four and half years of no change in Mike's condition, Pearl decided to let nature take its course. Even if he did wake up he'd be a vegetable, unable to move or communicate, merely exist as a shell of his former self.

Joel, who had finally recovered from his own injuries, returned to the hospital to thank Mike for his sacrifice and to say good-bye to his unexpected friend before Pearl gave the doctor's permission to pull the plug. In Mike's mind he and Joel had a moment to talk as Joel had returned to 'stabilize' the suddenly failing Satellite of Love. In reality Mike's body was beginning to shut down and Joel's arrival was merely a calming presence.

Shortly after Joel's arrival the life support system was shut off. In the coma Mike and the robots were still trapped aboard the Satellite of Love as the satellite began falling out of orbit and burning up upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Back in the hospital Pearl sat with Mike, her son, and encouraged him to 'move on' as his body began failing without the life support systems to keep him alive. As she spoke she literally pulled the plug and he never saw her again.

After Mike's body died his mind lived on.

Through his eternal dream Mike returned to the safety and comfort of his apartment with Crow and Tom Servo at his side.

Mike crossed to the other side without knowing that he was actually dead. Joel went into seclusion and began writing about his dreams and became a best selling author under his pen name 'Joel Hodgson'.

The Evidence:

Throughout the series Joel never attempted to contact anyone for help. He put little effort in escaping from the Satellite of Love. Despite his intelligence and ability to build four sentient robots he never built an escape pod or tried to take control over the ship's controls.

When he did leave the ship it was against his will and knowledge. He couldn't return to the Satellite of Love despite his reluctance to leave.

Despite receiving 'fan mail' from the Earth, none of these supposed fans attempted to mount a search and rescue party for Joel. They never existed, they were merely products of Joel's imagination. This is also why Mike received less fan mail than Joel, as Mike's imagination wasn't as active.

Joel was visited by alien/horror movie characters frequently, but never made contact with NASA or other astronauts who would pay attention to an enigmatic satellite orbiting the Earth.

Despite having limited supplies/rations onboard the satellite, Joel and Mike maintained a consistent look, consistent health and never got sick.

Mike tried to leave but was unable to make direct contact with anyone who could help him.

When Joel returned to the satellite he refused to take Mike and the bot with him, claiming that his time on the satellite were the best years of his life. As a socially awkward genius the isolation of a coma would seem like paradise.

Pearl would occasionally treat Mike like a friend, having pleasant chats or reminiscing; then she'd go back to trying to kill him.

At the end of the series Pearl literally _pulled the plug_, severing Mike's contact with Earth once and for all. It was implied that the Satellite of Love burned up upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, yet Mike and the bots managed to return to Mike's apartment without any injury or ramifications for their crash landing.

It's like the Satellite of Love never existed to the rest of the world...


End file.
